1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally concerns personal safety systems and methods, and more particularly, systems and methods for monitoring a person or persons and timely identifying a person experiencing an emergency physical condition. In particular, the system and method of the present invention concerns detecting and alarming a swimmer that may be in initial stages of drowning, or any person having an asphyxia event such as baby in a nursery potentially stricken with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
The personal and site safety system and methods of the present invention—directed to providing detection of a possible drowning person or person experiencing asphyxia—will be seen to use heart rate or pulse rate monitoring, or the monitoring of other physiological systems that indicate a person in distress or drowning, and thus concerns these functions also. The preferred system may in particular include (1) a cardiac monitoring system and alarm indicator or transmitter system worn by a person; with (2) a variety of other functions optionally provided, such as location monitoring, sound monitoring, data recording, and other desired functions.
Finally, the systems and methods of the present invention will be seen to concern an alarm receiver system, located relative to the person wearing the monitoring system (such as relative to the person's location in a body of water), wherein an alarm indication is detected and communicated to emergency responder or to safety personnel, or to others.
2. Background of the Invention
Unlike the systems and methods of the prior art, the system and method of the present invention will be seen to possess certain unique attributes primarily, including as are directed to ease of use and maintenance.
In particular, the system and method of the present invention will be seen to preferably incorporate (1) wearable miniaturized heartbeat/cardiac sensor units are both compact and easily donned and worn (upon the ear lobes, or the web of the hand); (2) portable/wearable system elements that are reliable and require but minimal maintenance in use, being that the sole element that is preferably both portable and wearable incorporates a battery that is recharged by a solar power charger that is integral to the same element; (3) heartbeat/cardiac sensor units each of which has, nonetheless to being of sub-coin size, a complete microprocessor system that can—should energy resources support and be desired to be so devoted—effect such recording and diagnosis of heartbeat and/or cardiac function that might be deemed to be more typical of a digitalized recording electrocardiogram than a mere portable detector of heartbeat so as to determine vitality, (4) a first major systems signal path (through the ear lobe, or the web of the hand) that is optical, and thus reliably functional at low power nonetheless to being potentially fully or partially immersed, (5) a second major systems communication path (between the wearable miniaturized heartbeat/cardiac sensor unit and an alarm that is situated in air) that is also optical, and thus again reliably functional at low power nonetheless to being potentially fully or partially immersed, and (6) an ability to use, and optionally to discriminate among, many heartbeat sensors as are simultaneously worn by many persons in concert, such as during the simultaneously monitoring of hundreds of persons in a swimming pool.
2.1 The Problem of Drowning While Swimming, Including in Supervised Swimming Pools
As related in U.S. patent application No. 20080266118 to Nicholas J. Pierson, et al., “[t]he dangers of accidental drowning are recognized, with parents keeping their children away from the water unless under constant supervision, and attempting to teach their children to swim as early as possible. Yet, drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death in children, and drowning related injuries are the fifth most likely cause of accidental death in the United States presently. Drowning accidents can occur in all age groups, but particularly is of concern with children between the ages of 1 and 4 years old and in teenage children, and many times can be caused by non-supervision, horseplay, and daredevil stunts. Other factors, such as alcohol or other impairment can also lead to drowning accidents. Near-drowning accidents are described as survival after suffocation caused by submersion in a liquid. Drowning accidents are described as events in which a victim dies within 24 hours after having been submerged in a liquid. Generally, when a person becomes submerged, they hold their breath until they cannot do so any longer, with the time for this to occur being dependent somewhat on that person. If the person is still conscious, they may try to gasp for air, aspirating water into the lungs. For many facilities, such as lakes, pools, beaches or the like, lifeguards are hired to attempt to prevent injuries or drownings, requiring significant expense and expertise. Even with lifeguards on duty, drownings still occur each year.
“Although there have been attempts to prevent drowning in pools or the like, particularly where there may be no lifeguard on duty, such attempts have not gained acceptance, as they have been expensive and/or ineffective for many applications. For example, anti-drowning systems have included devices carried by a non-swimmer that signal a receiver upon contact with the water. Although assisting where a user is attempting to keep a person out of the water, such as a small child, such devices are limited and don't assist while a person is swimming. Other systems have been developed for pools which use an array of cameras and sophisticated software to attempt to detect an unmoving person under the water, such systems being expensive and prone to difficulties in use.
“It would be desirable to more effectively monitor people for water safety to facilitate preventing drowning or other cases of asphyxiation accidents, with a simple but effective system to accurately and quickly identify a possible drowning person or person suffering an asphyxia event, and provide notification of an emergency condition. The identification of an asphyxia event, such as a drowning person, as quickly as possible is important, as death can occur in just a few minutes. A simple, reliable, compact and economical device and methods are needed. It would also be desirable to be able to detect other emergency situations, such as choking, apneic events or the like.”
2.2 The Problem of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (“SIDS”)
In the entry “Sudden infant death syndrome” appearing in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia of the Internet, circa 2010, it is explained that “sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or crib death is a syndrome marked by the sudden death of an infant that is unexpected by history and remains unexplained after a thorough forensic autopsy and a detailed death scene investigation.
“SIDS was responsible for 0.543 deaths per 1,000 live births in the U.S. in 2005. It is responsible for far fewer deaths than congenital disorders and disorders related to short gestation, though it is the leading cause of death in healthy infants after one month of age.
“SIDS deaths in the U.S. decreased from 4,895 in 1992 to 2,247 in 2004. But, during a similar time period, 1989 to 2004, SIDS being listed as the cause of death for sudden infant death (SID) decreased from 80% to 55%. According to Dr. John Kattwinkel, chairman of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Special Task Force on SIDS “A lot of us are concerned that the rate (of SIDS) isn't decreasing significantly, but that a lot of it is just code shifting” . . . .
2.3 A New Millimeter-Scale Microprocessor and Sensor System
In one of its embodiments the present invention will be seen use the battery adaptation—and optionally also the light, or solar, power—developed and reported as a “Millimeter-scale, energy-harvesting sensor system” about Feb. 8, 2010.
This low-power sensor system, developed at the University of Michigan, is about 1,000 times smaller than comparable commercial counterparts. It is directed to enabling new biomedical implants (which is not its use in the present invention). The 9-cubic millimeter solar-powered sensor system is the smallest that can harvest energy from its surroundings to operate nearly perpetually.
The U-M system's processor, solar cells, and battery are all contained in its tiny frame, which measures 2.5 by 3.5 by 1 millimeters. It is 1,000 times smaller than comparable commercial counterparts.
The system could enable new biomedical implants as well as home-, building- and bridge-monitoring devices. It could vastly improve the efficiency and cost of current environmental sensor networks designed to detect movement or track air and water quality.
With an industry-standard ARM Cortex-M3 processor, the system contains the lowest-powered commercial-class microcontroller. It uses about 2,000 times less power in sleep mode than its most energy-efficient counterpart on the market today.
The engineers say successful use of an ARM processor—the industry's most popular 32-bit processor architecture—is an important step toward commercial adoption of this technology.
Greg Chen, a computer science and engineering doctoral student, will present the research February 9 at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco.
“Our system can run nearly perpetually if periodically exposed to reasonable lighting conditions, even indoors,” said David Blaauw, an electrical and computer engineering professor. “Its only limiting factor is battery wear-out, but the battery would last many years.”
“The ARM Cortex-M3 processor has been widely adopted throughout the microcontroller industry for its low-power, energy efficient features such as deep sleep mode and Wake-Up Interrupt Controller, which enables the core to be placed in ultra-low leakage mode, returning to fully active mode almost instantaneously,” said Eric Schorn, vice president, marketing, processor division, ARM. “This implementation of the processor exploits all of those features to the maximum to achieve an ultra-low-power operation.”
The sensor spends most of its time in sleep mode, waking briefly every few minutes to take measurements. Its total average power consumption is less than 1 nanowatt. A nanowatt is one-billionth of a watt. (This property—with the waking time interval suitably adjusted—will be seen to be employed in the present invention.)
The developers say the key innovation is their method for managing power. The processor only needs about half of a volt to operate, but its low-voltage, thin-film Cymbet battery puts out close to 4 volts. The voltage, which is essentially the pressure of the electric current, must be reduced for the system to function most efficiently. The present invention will be seen to use a much, much larger and conventional “watch-type” battery, but the adaptation of the micro-powered circuitry of the University of Michigan to any miniature battery is still important to the present invention.
“If we used traditional methods, the voltage conversion process would have consumed many times more power than the processor itself uses,” said Dennis Sylvester, an associate professor in electrical and computer engineering.
One way the U-M engineers made the voltage conversion more efficient is by slowing the power management unit's clock when the processor's load is light.
“We skip beats if we determine the voltage is sufficiently stable,” Sylvester said.
The designers are working with doctors on potential medical applications. The system could enable less-invasive ways to monitor pressure changes in the eyes, brain, and in tumors in patients with glaucoma, head trauma, or cancer. In the body, the sensor could conceivably harvest energy from movement or heat, rather than light, the engineers say.
The inventors are commercializing the technology through a company led by Scott Hanson, a research fellow in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
The paper is entitled “Millimeter-Scale Nearly Perpetual Sensor System with Stacked Battery and Solar Cells.” This research is funded by the National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Focus Center Research Program and ARM.
2.4 A New Waterproofing Process For Electronics Equipments
The methods of U.S. patent applications No. 20090263641 for a METHOD AND APPARATUS TO COAT OBJECTS WITH PARYLENE, and No. 220090263581 for a METHOD AND APPARATUS TO COAT OBJECTS WITH PARYLENE AND BORON NITRIDE, garnered some notoriety as publicly demonstrated during 2009-2010.
Doing business as “Golden Shellback”, the web site of the enterprise reports that the inventions derive from a dilemma faced by Sid Martin, Director of Technology at Northeast Maritime Institute. “He had been hired to spearhead a project bringing the latest technology to the field of Maritime Security and test it in the field. Martin was the perfect candidate for this job. Prior to working at NMI he was a member of the project team responsible for the wheel bearings on the Mars Lander and in doing so became familiar with the obstacles faced in developing products for use in harsh environments. But the project was nearing completion and he needed to find new ways to use his experience at the institute.
“Before developing Aerospace technology Martin worked for years in the manufacturing of semiconductors and during this time he gained both knowledge and experience coating objects at a molecular scale. With the sole directive of realizing the Institute's mission to “honor the mariner” Sid diverted his focus from maritime security to a long stirring idea; Waterproofing Electronics.
“With the backing of NMI President Eric Dawicki he began work on techniques he learned during the time he worked in the semiconductor industry, applied coatings to surfaces at the molecular level. Up to this point marine electronics were separated from the corrosive and conductive properties of salt water with the use of protective shells. A waterproof radio for example, combines a protective shell with plastic coating and gaskets to keep water away from sensitive electrical components. This works fairly well provided you maintain the watertight integrity of the unit but it's expensive to manufacture and maintain not to mention the extra weight and bulk it adds to the device itself. Damage the shell or service the components in harsh conditions and that protection is useless.
“Martin's idea was different. By merging his experience in harsh weather design with his knowledge of semiconductors he developed a new coating that provides direct protection to both internal and external components of a device regardless of size. The process itself is a closely guarded secret but results in a ultra thin yet durable protection at the molecular level.”
This coating can be realized in accordance with the materials and processes of the two patent applications and, being optically transparent (such as permits the display screens of the coated electronic equipments to be read), is preferred as the waterproofing material and method for use in the system of the present invention.
2.5 A Previous Patent Application
U.S. patent application No. 20080266118 to Nicholas J. Pierson; et al., for “Personal emergency condition detection and safety systems and methods” concerns drowning or asphyxiation prevention system and methods for facilitating drowning prevention of swimmers in bodies of water, such as pools, lakes or the like. The drowning prevention safety system comprises a wearable article worn by a swimmer, an alarm indicator for transmitting an alarm condition. The system may further include an alarm receiving system for receiving the alarm signal from the alarm transmitting device. A patch type portion may be adhesively applied to the skin of a user to monitor the electrical activity of the heart and generate heart rate information that is communicated to a separate wearable device, such as a wrist worn device.
2.6 Approaches to, and Fundamentals of, Vitality Monitoring Systems
Any vitality monitoring system may further comprise a locating devices, such as those operating by proximity detection, GPS location, of still other techniques for location surveillance or distance detection. A device may also include a panic button for the user to trigger the indicator and/or alert a surveillance or alarm detection system, which may also be used to turn off the alarm indication if necessary.
Any system may also include other features, such as multiple physiological function detectors and/or multiple alarm indicators, such as audible, visual or other indicators. Alarm detection may be provided by various systems, such as one or more sound receivers, visual alarm detectors, or other systems. Emergency conditions may also be detectable from audible sounds of a person that may be in distress or carbon dioxide shock. A visual alarm indicator can be for example a bright light, inflatable balloon type device, colored fluid ejection or the like, may be provided.
Other systems to prevent impaired people from entering the water, such as an alcohol monitor or measurement device may be provided. The monitoring system may be small, compact, durable, and easily worn by a person while swimming, or otherwise making it easily usable.
In consideration of these many possibilities, the system and method of the present invention are directed to certain things that are fundamental to any swimmer or infant monitoring system. Foremost among these things are that (1) the system must be, at least in part, both user wearable and waterproof, (2) communication between system components that are immersed and alarms that sound in air should be reliable, and (3) system components should be both affordable in initial cost, and should incur low life cycle costs of operation.
The present invention will immediately be next seen to have arguably dealt in an elegant manner with each of these three fundamental requirements.
2.6 Shellback
The present invention will be seen to employ, in certain embodiments, components that are waterproofed by a transparent coating. This coating is most preferably called a one called “Shellback”, which is a new invention just come onto the market circa 2010. The coating was first publically shown to high acclaim in that it permits electronic devices such as cell phones to be satisfactorily waterproofed, such as will thereafter protect the same from rain and from being immersed in toilet water. The waterproofing is realized without interference with operation of the pushbutton controls, the view screen, the connections, the speaker, etc. of the cell phone. The waterproofing is strikingly demonstrated by immersion of a treated coated cell phone in water, where it continues to “operate”, although the waterproofing of the operating phone clearly does not change (1) the attenuation of radio frequency signals, nor (2) the limitations of sound transmission in water, so that the “Shellback” waterproofing of the cell phone will be understood not to render the cell phone usable under water, but simply to protect the cell phone and its circuitry, pushbutton key switches, display screen, etc., from water damage. (The circuitry of the present invention will be seen to be functionally operative under water.)
This new waterproof coating is described in U.S. patent application publication number 20090263641 for a METHOD AND APPARATUS TO COAT OBJECTS WITH PARYLENE, and also in publication number 220090263581 for a METHOD AND APPARATUS TO COAT OBJECTS WITH PARYLENE AND BORON NITRIDE, both to Sidney Edward Martin, III; et al. The applications describe a method of coating preferred for use with at least the underwater components of the preferred embodiment of the invention of the present application.
In the patent-applied-for method of Martin, III; et al., Silquest is applied to an object as a vapor. A related method coats objects with Parylene and Silquest. This prior art describes a vapor deposition apparatus with multi-temperature zone furnaces that is useful for applying a Parylene coating to objects. The application further provides objects coated with Silquest and polymers, including Parylene, where the objects are incompatible with immersion in water.